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There's something about Aston Martin that excites the spirits of young and old. Add the name Vanquish, which since its appearance in 2001 has gingered up the dish, and this car is pretty-well irresistible.

Which is just as well, really, as the booming rasp that accompanies every start of its 6.0-litre V12 is loud enough to wake the most unconscious post-prandial slumberer.

This is the final appearance of this renowned naturally-aspirated V12, designed around two Ford V6 engines. Don't scoff. Cosworth and Porsche got credits for the original V6, Ford threw some of its most talented engineers on the job and, since its first appearance in the 1999 DB7 V12 Vantage punching out 420bhp, this engine has got better and better.

By the time it appeared in the Ian Callum-designed Vanquish of 2001 it was pumping out 460bhp. What a car that was, flawed but beautiful and so charismatic, with a starring role in James Bond films, The Italian Job remake and namechecked in lyrics by Lil' Kim and The Pussycat Dolls.

Aston Martin sold 2,500 MkI Vanquishes (including the uprated S version that appeared in 2004); an astonishing feat. Its DBS replacement simply didn't capture hearts and wallets in the same way. In 2012 Aston relaunched the Vanquish with Marek Reichman’s all-carbon-fibre bodywork and the V12 developing 565bhp.

Now we have the S version of that car. As well as a swansong for the naturally-aspirated V12, which now screams out 595bhp at 7,000rpm thanks to a freer-breathing intake system, and 465lb ft at 5,500rpm, it’s also the last blast for Aston’s long-running VH aluminium platform chassis.

It's coupled to a tweaked version of the ZF eight-speed automatic mounted in a rear transaxle with a Graziano limited-slip differential.

The top speed is quoted at 201mph, with 0-62mph in 3.5 seconds, with an EU Combined fuel consumption of 21.6mpg (I managed 17.2mpg) and CO2 emissions of 302g/km.

On open roads, the Vanquish S is simply phenomenalCredit:
Max Earey

Chassis changes to this 1.74-tonne coupé comprise stiffened coil-sprung, upper and lower wishbone suspension all round, retuned adaptive damping and uprated anti-roll-bar bushes. It rides on 20-inch five-spoke diamond-cut alloys, shod with Pirelli P-Zero tyres and the carbo-ceramic (CCM) brake rotors have six-piston calipers at the front and four-piston units at the rear.

A new, very low (and vulnerable) chin spoiler and race car-style rear diffuser add to what are termed “meaningful increases” in downforce, while the four exhaust outlets poking through bare carbon-fibre, along with the ludicrously wide rear arches, add to the caricature levels of aggression. It's important to note, however, that the carbon-fibre body plays only the smallest role in the Vanquish's structural rigidity.

Inside, the extraordinary white stitching on rich Bridge of Weir leather looks like someone tipped gin into the tea at the needlepoint department. Lines of stitching crawl like tracer fire over the headlining and the deep blue seats, though I wonder how it'll look after five years' use. The centre console gets a new “satin” carbon-fibre finish, although it actually looks blotchy rather than cutting edge, while those amazing “gun turret” Bang & Olufsen tweeters rise out of each side of the dashboard.

These minor updates, however, can't disguise the fact that the facia, with its crummy satnav, bizarre opposite-swinging speedometer and rev counter and Ford- and Volvo-derived switches, looks dated, isn't particularly easy to use and doesn't compare well against the triumph that is the latest DB11.

The interior feels dated but there's no doubting the qualityCredit:
Max Earey

There's not that much room inside and you'd certainly struggle to strap even small children in the rear seats. Nor is the boot that commodious for a GT like this. Most annoying of all is the way the needlessly large transmission tunnel pushes your legs uncomfortably to one side. Did I mention the noisy air-con fan and the plain weird squared-off steering wheel? The steering rack ratio is 15:1 and there are two and a half turns lock to lock, so the fixed gear-change paddles can disappear from your fingertips on tight corners.

Push the absurd crystal key into its slot and hold your ears while the engine booms and settles to a window-rattling idle. Gear selection via the big glass buttons on the dash slows manoeuvring, as it takes a second for the ratios to engage and you have to get used to being the centre of attention, as well as watching out for that vulnerable nose.

For all the fact that the Vanquish can feel big and awkward (its 6ft 9.4in wide and 15ft 6in long) it drives smoothly and gently around town, and in the softest of the suspension settings the ride isn't too bad, either.

Find an empty (and preferably dry) road and you can let the engine off its leash and mourn the fact the world won't see and hear big bangers like this any more. The cacophony of noises is like a dinosaur orgy; yelps, screams shrieks and bellows, getting more strident and scary as you approach 7,000rpm.

It might not quite have the performance of the McLaren 650S or Ferrari F12, but that soundtrack more than makes up for it.

Credit:
Max Earey

Foot-wide Pirellis do a fair job on keeping the wheels in contact with the road, but if it’s damp you'll get very familiar with the traction control warning light.

And while that automatic gearbox hasn't quite the speed and precision of a twin-clutch unit, it's really very good, slurring changes just enough to give some mechanical sympathy, but being as speedy as you'd want, at least on the road. Dial in Track mode to the driveline and you'll discover how vicious an automated gearchange can be.

At 1.74 tonnes, there's a lot for the brakes to slow into corners, and while these carbon-ceramic anchors are more than up to the job, with the bonus of an admirably sensitive pedal, the heat build-up is fantastic. Similarly, there's a slight delay as the tyres and steering take up the argument with the V12 about which one of them is steering the car. No, this isn't a nose-on understeering monster, but it's a front-engined GT with a more measured response to the steering than something with the engine behind the driver.

On wider roads with open corners, where size and weight aren't quite such issues, the Vanquish S is a phenomenon; a last triumphal blast from a fast-disappearing breed.

In any level playing field contest the recent DB11 is the better car, almost as fast and more comfortable, better handling, more efficient and with a much nicer interior, but the Vanquish S is special in a way that car will never be. It shrieks its song from a time when Aston punched its way out from under Ford's yoke with a name as modern as the hour and redolent of careless riches, glamour, sex and high-speed adventure.

At £199,950 it's all glorious excess, but we'll not see the like (or the sound) of it again.

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